A study on the effectiveness of process-oriented writing for IELTS = Nghiên cứu hiệu quả của phương pháp luyện viết theo quy trình chuẩn bị cho thi IELTS

1




VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONALSTUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯU TÚ OANH

M.A. Minor Thesis

Field
: English methodology
Code
: 601410



Ha noi, 2011
A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
PROCESS-ORIENTED WRITING FOR IELTS

NGHIÊN CỨU HIỆU QUẢ CỦA PHƯƠNG PHÁP
LUYỆN VIẾT THEO QUY TRÌNH CHUẨN BỊ CHO THI IELTS

2

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONALSTUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯU TÚ OANH

M.A. Minor Thesis

Field
: English methodology
Code
: 601410
Supervisor
: LÊ VĂN CANH, Phd



Ha noi, 2011
A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
PROCESS-ORIENTED WRITING FOR IELTS

NGHIÊN CỨU HIỆU QUẢ CỦA PHƯƠNG PHÁP
LUYỆN VIẾT THEO QUY TRÌNH CHUẨN BỊ CHO THI IELTS

5


Content
Acknowledgement


1.1. 
1.2. Aims and scope of the st
1.2.1. 
1.2.2. 
1.2.3. 
1.3. 
1.4. 

PART 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Academic 
2.1.1. What is writing?
2.1.2. What is an academic essay?
2.1.3. What are the main types of academic essays?
2.2. 
2.2.1. 
2.2.2. Major problems of Academic writing instruction in Vietnam context
2.2.2.1. 
2.2.2.2. Overemph
2.2.2.3. Lack of genre-
2.2.2.4. 
2.3. 
2.3.1 
2.3.1.1. IELS Academic writing  
2.3.1.2. IELTS Academic writing  task 2
2.3.2. 
2.4. 
2.4.1. 
2
5
5

7
7
8
8
8
9


10
10
10
13
15
15
15
17
18
19
19
19
20
21
21
22
23
23
6


2.4.1.1. Definitions of the product appro

2.4.1.2. 
2.4.2. 
2.4.2.1. 
2.4.2.2. 
2.4.2.3. 
2.4.3. Differenc


3.1. 
3.2. 
3.3. 
3.3.1. 
3.3.2. 
3.3.2.1. 
3.3.2.1.1. 
3.3.2.1.2 
3.3.2.1.3. 

3.3.2.2. 
3.3.2.2.1. 
3.3.2.2.2. 
3.3.3. 


4.1. 
4.2. 
4.3. Limitati
4.4. 
4.5. 
23

23
25
26
26
31
32

33
35
35
48
49
49
49
49
49
49
51
52
58
58
61

65
65
66
69
71
74
7

LIST OF TABLES


Table 3. 1: The arrangement of research time
Diagram 3.1. The procedure of process oriented approach
Table 3. 2: Content: (Total score=2)
-and Post-test Scores for the Content (%)
Table 3. 4: Organization: (Total score=2)
-and Post-test Scores for the Organization (%)
Table 3. 6: Lexical resource: (Total score=2.5)
Table 3.  -and Post-test Scores for the Lexical
resource (%)
Table 3. 8: Language use: (Total score=2.5)
-and Post-test Scores for the Language use (%)


52
53
54
54
56
56
57

57
59
59
62

8


PART1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
The increasing number of Vietnamese students pursuing their academic training in
English-speaking countries gives rise to the need to prepare the prospective students to go
through the gate-keeper of the pre-departure examination, which is either TOEFL or
IELTS. In higher education in English speaking countries, in particular, many university
courses evaluate students through some form of written text (e.g., essay exams, short-
. Competence in academic writing is very critical to both
the success at the exam and 
plan to pursue higher education abroad are supposed to demonstrate their ability to write
well for academic purposes. Considering the great emphasis on writing at oversea
universities, the kind of writing training Vietnamese students receive prior to their studies
and the solutions to their problems in English academic writing need to be examined. To
investigate these issues could contribute to the improvement of writing instruction for
Vietnamese EFL students who plan to study in academic programs in English speaking

countries.

Therefore, an appropriate score achieved by students in IELTS officially defined on
as the International English Language Testing System is one of the
fundamental requirements for abroad university entry. IELTS, the results of which are used
by three international organizations, British Council, Idp, and University of Cambridge, to
assess your language skills when people want to study, work or live in an English-speaking
country, exactly tests their ability to communicate in English. It is estimated that more than
700,000 people use the test to access opportunities in careers, study and migration every
year. IELTS are administered in over 500 centres globally four times a month. Examinees
can optionally choose from two types of IELTS test: Academic or General Training,
depending on whether they want to study, work or migrate. Both modules are made up of
four parts  Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. IELTS results are graded on the
9


unique IELTS 9-band scale. The test covers the full range of ability from non-user to expert
user. Candidates are not limited in how many times they can sit the test.

However, IELTS, which is increasingly important in Vietnam as mentioned above,
is a great challenge for Vietnamese test-takers and test-trainers for a variety of reasons. The
main reason is their lack of the required proficiency due to factors such as (a) a lack of
qualified language teachers; (b) extremely large classes, with poor teacher-to-student
ratios; (c) teaching methods which focus on grammar, vocabulary, and linguistic
phenomena; and (e) lack of suitable, authentic teaching materials.

For academic writing skills only, non major Vietnamese students of English have
been done a number of grammar exercises, but they have not learned how to write an
academic paragraph or essay. Because the dominant teaching methods in Vietnam are
grammar-

superficially emphasized. Yet, in order to obtain high test scores in IELTS, along with
continued concerns about grammar and vocabulary at sentence levels, Vietnamese students,
especially, encountered various problems in recognizing and managing conventional
differences between Vietnamese and English academic writing, such as the lack of
knowledge about expected structure, style, organization and use of language.

The motivation behind this study is that I, as a teacher, wish to find ways to help the
students develop their academic writing more effectively so that they can achieve higher
scores for the writing component in the IELTS. I believe that a high score on the IELTS is
so critical to most of the test-takers if they do not want to be disadvantaged in the
competition for scholarship or for enrolment opportunity in foreign higher education
institutions.

The instructional strategy that I experimented with is the application of a process-
oriented approach to writing. I believed that this approach would enhance  
overall writing proficiency because it is revealed that instruction in process strategies
10



practical writing strategies to compose the writings which are perfectly constructed,
academically styled, well organized, and correctly language used. Furthermore, the effects
of the process oriented writing instruction may be sustainable over a period of time without
further instruction. The success of this teaching approach that has been documented in the
literature suggests that this approach to writing teaching may help the students improve
their writing performance in their IELTS. This assumption motivates the researcher to
conduct this study.

1.2. Aims and scope of the study
1.2.1. Objectives of the study

This study is aimed at experimenting a process-oriented approach to academic
writing in the context of an IELTS preparation course to a small group of Vietnamese adult
learners (N=20). Thus, the objectives of the study include:
a) To test the effectiveness of the process-    
overall competence in academic writing;
b) To find out on which sub-skills of the academic writing skills the process-
oriented approach is most effective.
c) The findings of this study will have significant pedagogical implications for
Academic writing curriculum planners, and teachers. Furthermore, it is expected
that this study will shed light on the feasibility of incorporating process oriented
writing instruction into IELTS academic writing preparation course.

1.2.2. Research questions:
This study aims to investigate the following research questions:
(1) How does the process approach help the students progress in their writing
profiency in terms of the content, organization, lexical resource, and language
use as reflected in their writings?
11


(2) In which area(s) of the content, organisation, lexical resource, and language
use do the students show least improvement with the process approach?
(3) How do the students self-evaluate their progress in their writing proficiency with
the process approach?

1.3. Scope of the study
The study is confined to the testing of the effectiveness of the process-oriented
approach to the development of the academic writing skills of a small group of students
who were studying for the IELTS. It is, therefore, a quasi-experimental study in nature.
Thus, there is no intention of generalizing the findings.

2. Significance
Although no generalization of the findings of the study is intended, the study is
significant in at least two ways. First, it shows how effective the process-oriented approach
to writing to preparing the students for their academic writing tests. Second, the findings
can be applied beyond the test-preparation context to similar contexts of writing instruction,
i.e. where the class size is small and the students are sufficiently motivated.

3. Methods of the study
Since the aim of the study is to test the effectiveness of the process-oriented
approach to academic writing, two methods were used. First, a quasi-experimental design
was implemented over a period of 15 hours of classroom instruction. Second, a
questionnaire was administered to the students by the end of the course in order to find out
how the students perceived of the usefulness of the teaching approach under investigation.

12


PART2. LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Academic writing
1.1. What is writing?
To begin with, it is normally stated that writing is an expression of ideas - the
conveying of message to readers, so the ideas themselves should arguably be seen as the
most important aspect of it. What is more, writing can take many forms, including anything
from a shopping list, acting as an aide-memoire, through letters, both formal and informal,
to academic texts like this essay. Each type of writing displays a variety of features which
and beyond the sentence at
Therefore, each type of writing requires
more or less skill, and the more complex the writing, the more essential writing skills are.
Attention should also be paid to formal aspects: neat hand writing, correct spelling and

punctuation, as well as acceptable grammar and careful selection of vocabulary (Penny
1996).
Writing is a productive skill which, Nunan (1999) also suggests, shares some functional
characteristics with spoken discourse but also displays unique elements which are not
common to both. Harmer (2004), on the other hand, views that the type of writing
determines how similar spoken and written discourse are. Halliday (1985) cited in Nunan
(1999 p. 275) outlines 3 main       
          

writing has many facets.

1.2. What is an academic essay?
As mentioned above, among many kinds of writing, this paper thoroughly works
out and discuss academic assays which are usually identified as writings requiring no
outside research (though they sometimes may). In academics, Maryanna Smith (2010)
considers academic writing as a major assignment in which one is supposed to possess the
13


necessary academic writing skills. She adds that there are various academic writings such
as term papers academic writing, dissertation academic writing and essay academic writing
           
academic milieu, no matter what the program of study, students will be asked to write an
essay. In the hard sciences, where understanding of the lessons is often more hands on and
displayed through experiments and experiment documentation, there is likely less demand
for essays, but in the arts, humanities and social sciences, essays are a key component of
most classes. All students are expected to be able to express themselves through academic

show understanding of a concept, to share ones personal views and beliefs, to convince
others of a specific belief, or to review or comment on a given topic. Essays typically focus

on one main point and follow a consistent succession of parts, from the introduction of the
main idea to commentary or defence of the idea, closing with a summary of the main ideas


          

      According to Adam Kissel from website
Ezinemark.com, students need to create a logical, compelling argument with detailed
supporting evidence. a specific topic to write a successful academic essay because
academic essays need a specific topic, writing style, and essay structure. In other words, it
is essential for students to learn how to pick the correct thesis, support their argument,
quote their sources wisely, and choose their own words for maximum effect. Moreover,
students will find it easier to write a good essay with some simple organizational and
planning skills. Johnathan Ginsburg (2011), in addition, points out that it is vitally, in
writing essays, important to prepare for not only the subject and main idea but also the
objective and style of the essay which should be decided upon before the writing begins;
whether it is to be informative or descriptive, persuasive or a narrative because that these
fundamentals are not fully formed before the writing begins will be much more obstacle not
14


only for writers, but for the readers to understand. In Miller (2011) maintains that to write
            
himself with the topic, and then brainstorm on the topic selected and seek insights of your
own.

Generally, class essay assignments are used to ask students to discuss in some depth a
topic relevant to the course content. While analysis is the basis of most essays, other goals
can be included, such as speculation, evaluation, etc. Essays require the ability to establish
and maintain a focus on a topic. Most topics are too broad for a writer to cover completely:

it is up to the individual writer to narrow the focus. Typically, an essay is organized by
introducing your topic, explaining and supporting the focus, and then drawing some
relevant conclusions from your discussion and analysis. Because in an essay you have
sufficient time and room to explore your ideas thoroughly, be sure to develop them
adequately by balancing your more general assertions with specific evidence; this coverage
might include textual evidence by way of quotations or paraphrases. As a rule, do not
simply rely on generalizations to express your ideas. Also, because an essay tends to
involve abstract concepts, it is always a good idea to make sure that those concepts are
defined, so that both you and the reader share an impression of what you mean by an idea.
Defining a concept does not necessarily mean quoting from a dictionary; rather, simply be
sure that in some way you have adequately conveyed your meaning of abstract terms. The
essay format can often provide the basis for other types of writing. Many other types of
writing are based on analysis, as an essay generally is, and many also often rely on its
overall organizational scheme.
For our purposes, we can use a definition by Dorothy E Zemach and Lisa A Rumisek
(2003) to identify an academic essay as a group of paragraphs written about single topic
and central main ideas which must have a defined structure  an introduction, a body and a
conclusion.

15


- The introduction: is the first paragraph of an essay. It explains the topic with general
ideas. It also has a thesis statement. This is a sentence that gives the main idea. It usually
comes at or near the end of the paragraph.
- The main body: These are the paragraphs that explain and support the thesis
statement and come between the introduction and the conclusion. There must be one or
more paragraphs in the main body of an essay.
- The conclusion: this is the last paragraph of an essay. It summarizes or restates the
thesis and the supporting idea of the essay.

To sum up, there are different kinds of writings involved in academic essays. These
include many different kinds of essays, research papers etc. and involve different kinds of
academic writing skills.

1.3. What are the main types of academic essays?
Looking at the intent of the academic essay, it can also be defined into three main types
by such an above university:
Narrative essays  you have an interesting story close to your heart and you want to
share it. You want other to gain from what you learnt during an interesting day out, in a
picnic or fishing. You want to talk about how certain event shaped your life. If so, narrative
essay is the right choice for you. You decide your purpose and then share your experience
in an organized fashion.
Descriptive essays  basically, descriptive essays are the mirror image of your physical
senses. You give a clear verbal portrait of a place, person or object of your choice. Here
you need to ensure that the readers get the same emotion, ideas and perception about the
things as you do.
Persuasive essays  persuasive essays require you to creatively position your ideas into
          s by appealing to their
16


emotions, interests and values. Thus, here you use solid reasoning that is well supported by
facts and evidences.
Definition essays- definition essay involves writing plain facts about certain things. You
delve into the meaning and give clear ideas about things to the readers. For example, you
explain about internet, PCs, or certain abstract ideas like love, hatred, and happiness.
Essentially you present facts, examples, and comparisons to affect understanding.
Compare and contrast essays  You establish some basis and then go on to highlight
the similarities or the differences between two (or several) objects. Thus, it demands you to
think critically about the objects and be keen about what you see, feel, hear and then

portray the same.
Cause and effect essays  cause and effect means building the relationship between


Argumentative essays  Here you deal with the ideas that can be argued, defended and

yours. Thus it requires that you present strong arguments supported by solid reasoning and
evidences.
Critical essays  here you give critical interpretations of a piece of art, music, movie, or
literary work. You evaluate the works, judge them, appreciate them or reveal mistakes in
them.

2. Challenges of learners
2.1. Problems of the EFL learners
Fundamentally, writing is a skill, like reading, which has to be taught in L1 schools and,
as Nunan (1999, p. 271) points out, producing coherent written discourse is an effort for
many English mother-       
learners             
          
writing in their native language, though they may have a more extensive stock of language
17


resources to call upon, frequently confront exactly the same kinds of writing problems as
            
clearly is a skill native-speakers find difficult, many L2 users, who have less control of
English and its conventions of register and collocation, will inevitably find it a chore that
takes time and considerable effort.

Certain problems that English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and students in

China face in teaching and learning writing have also been noted by Yan that acquiring the
writing skill seems to be more laborious, halting, less productive, and demanding than
acquiring the other three skills (Zheng 1999). In fact, Nunan (1999, 271) regards it as an
enormous chal           
second language. This is magnified by the fact that the rhetorical conventions of English
texts - the structure, style, and organization - often differ from the conventions in other
languages. It requires effort to recognize and manage the differences (Leki, 1991). Guo Yan
finds that in many countries, education systems concentrates on writing for taking tests, and
that many students aim to practice writing is to pass examinations or to gain a good grade
in the class rather than producing a product and achieve a grade from the teacher which
possibly makes students not interested in writing, which becomes decontextualised and
artificial, giving students no real sense of purpose or perspective of a target audience.
However, he assures that it is necessary to find ways to improve the teaching of this skill to
benefit all writing tasks and prepare students for the writing they will have to do after they
graduate in spite of those persisting problems.
The same issues that make second language learning generally difficult also apply to
learning to write in a foreign language. As Brown (1987, p. 82) points out:
nce
he or she has had with language in order to facilitate the second language learning process.
The native language is an obvious set of prior experiences. Sometimes the language is
negatively transferred, and we say then that negative interference has oc
18



Grossmann (2009. p.5) finds that this negative interference in writing in his work
situation, where German is the L1, manifests itself, in my experience, partly with the
formulaic language, which is relatively easy to teach and help students improve, and partly
with collocation, word order, word choice and word use, where improvement is more
difficult to achieve. Brown (1987, p. 82) also identifies the problem of overgeneralization

et language, generalising a
particular rule or item in the second language  irrespective of the native language 
            -
-language.

He, consequently, comes to a conclusion why so many students have problems
writing? Firstly the difficulties faced by learners are partly linguistic and partly due to a
lack of skills to write. The latter arise because many students do not write in their L1 so
lack the confidence and experience needed to write in an L2. As a result, adult students, in
his experience, avoid writing, compounding the problem. Secondly, previous learning
         ot do, and
these preconceptions often prevent them from experimenting and taking risks with
language, instead resorting to translation from their L1, because it feels safer. The linguistic
problems arise partly because, as Nunan (1999) points out, written discourse is generally
not just a matter of writing down what we would say. He (1999, p. 277) adds that
  
and many students do not have the resources to produce more complex language.
Moreover, each type of writing requires students to master new vocabulary, format and
register conventions and this means that ability to write in one genre does not mean
proficiency in another. All these factors affect student motivation, which without a doubt,
plays an important role in their success.

2.2. Major problems of academic writing instruction in Vietnam context
19


The major problems of writing instruction for Vietnamese university students are found
by Vietnamese teachers of English helping non-major Vietnamese students preparing for
English proficiency tests such as TOEIC, TOEFL, and IELTS for a long time : 1. Heavy
emphasis on grammatical form. 2. Overemphasis on the final product. 3. Lack of genre-

specific writing across the curriculum. 4. The need for more diverse types of feedback.
2.2.1. Heavy emphasis on grammatical form
Much of teaching writing in Vietnam still concentrates heavily on traditional form-
dominated approach that is mainly concerned with knowledge about the structure of
language, and writing development as the result of the imitation of input, in the form of
texts provided by the teacher (Pincas, 1982b; Badger and White, 2000). In this approach,
the writing reinforces or tests the accurate application of grammatical rules. Controlled
composition tasks provide the text and ask the student to manipulate linguistic forms within
that text (Raimes, 1991). In other words, Vietnamese writing classes emphasizes using the
grammar correctly, using a range of vocabulary and sentence structures, punctuating
meaningfully, and spelling accurately. Also the issue is teachers often find difficulties in
adapting a new method successfully in their classroom because students need for grammar
instruction, and so they continue to place linguistic accuracy at the forefront of their
instruction.

Most students have been taught grammatical features separate from the context and
failed to find a close relationship between grammatical form and function; therefore, their
knowledge of grammar was not carried over to their ability to write. In addition, even if the
students have developed a large vocabulary, which can be enough to express when writing,
their vocabulary cannot be applied into real communication.

2.2.2. Overemphasis on the final product
20


Another issue is that Vietnamese students believe writing is a linear process, in which
they follow fixed steps, such as Pre-write, Write, and Re-write. However, in fact, it is
claimed that writing is a recursive process (Shaughnessy, 1977; Flower & Hayes, 1981;
Zamel, 1983, and Hedge, 1988), which allows students to go back and forth while writing
in order to support or modify the initial ideas. Vietnamese students spent relatively little

time in editing and revising; thus, they show little flexibility in changing their original
ideas. They also are lack of competence in composing is partially because of emphasis on
the final product, and their insufficient knowledge on writing strategies. Due to emphasis
on the final product, the interaction between a teacher and students or between students
themselves does not exist.

2.2.3. Lack of genre-specific writing across the curriculum
Vietnamese students enrolled in writing classes have a variety of majors, and various
reasons for attending the class, such as further academic studying and improved job
opportunity. Therefore, writing classes might need to help students understand the social
functions or actions of genres and the contexts in which these genres are used (Bazerman,
1988; Freedman & Medway, 1994). Thus, classroom instruction that addresses multiple
genres would support students' needs in their various academic and workplace. As part of
this instructional change, university writing teachers might consider initiating students into
the academic discourse community (Bizzell, 1982), and teach the discourse conventions of
school and workplace genres as a tool for empowering students with linguistic resources for
social success (Kress, 1993; Martin, 1993b).

2.2.4. The need for more diverse types of feedback
Vietnamese students are traditionally accustomed to being given specific instructions
from teachers, and to receive authoritative feedback from the teachers. Thus, students write
for the teacher, not for themselves, and as a result, teachers are the only audience for whom
students gain experience writing for. One result of this is that writing teachers are often
overwhelmed by the task of giving a feedback and correcting students' writing. Due to the
fact that students are passive in the classroom, they naturally feel uncomfortable with
21


cooperative interaction that requires them to take an active role. Consequently, the teacher-
led assessment, which is prevalent in Vietnam, makes writing meaningless and

unproductive.

3. Writing in preparation classes for IELTS
Brown (2001) argues that writing in the EFL classroom is less varied than for L1 users.
Moreover, writing needs vary depending on level of L2 and reasons for learning English,
which usually affects the way teaching is approached. Students having to write academic
essays will need to learn the formulaic language as well the levels of formality used when
writing English to various professional readers, whereas learners wanting to chat on-line to
make friends may prefer more conversational or informal writing practice. Actually,
Raimes ( (1993) cited in Nunan, 1999, p. 273) identifies two kinds of writing in the EFL
       -writing, drafting, revisions
           is paper
explores display academic essay - writing for IELTS. Therefore, in display writing,
understanding the requirements of the tasks for IELTS is crucial to success. This skill is
best practiced working with others, but the solitary nature and time constraints of IELTS
writing examinations means that students have to be able to undergo the generating ideas
and planning quickly and alone. In addition, formulaic written language has to be mastered.
Students who can use natural language as it is used by the native speaker will perform
better than those whose linguistic resources are translations from their L1. However,
working together with other students to adapt the formulaic language to meet the needs of a
particular question is likely to be met with more success than just copying input in its
entirety.

3.1. IELTS Academic Writing
IELTS Academic writing , more specifically, measures your ability to write in clear,
formal English, as is generally demanded in an academic context. Candidates are assessed
according to the following criteria:
 Task Response (Content) - how accurately to address the task
22

 Coherence and Cohesion (Organisation) - how organized the writing is
 Lexical Resource - 
 Grammatical Range and Accuracy (Use of language) - 
grammar

Examinees have an hour to complete two writing tasks and must complete both tasks to
get a score. During the time they need to organize their ideas, write accurately, and use rich
vocabulary. It is recommended that the candidate divide their time in this way:
 Task 1  150 words  20 minutes
 Task 2  250 words  40 minutes

3.1.1. IELS Academic writing – task 1
In the first task, candidates must write a report based on pictorial information. This
means they may need to describe a graph, chart, or diagram. It may be a bar chart, pie chart,
line graph, or some other graphic representation. Candidates might also be asked to
describe the process illustrated by the diagram. This involves describing the data
accurately, pointing out trends and relevant information, and using appropriate vocabulary.

To understand how best to answer this type of task, read through the model answers
provided in IELTS         
ability to group relevant information, link ideas in complex sentences, and use appropriate
vocabulary to describe trends. This is not as difficult as it sounds. By reading through
several sample answers, they can extract the vocabulary they need and also learn a variety
of sentence structures, to present their information in a formal, academic manner. For the
highest marks, also pay close attention to their spelling and copy given words and phrases
correctly.

3.1.2. IELTS Academic writing – task 2
In this task, candidates need to write an academic style essay on the single topic

given. They have no choices here  they must write only about the one topic  so prepare
23


themselves with hstrategies to write a well-organized essay on a variety of subject areas.
Candidates may need to offer a solution to a problem, express an opinion or comment on
ideas or arguments presented.

            
introduction, body and conclusion. It should not be a list of bullet points, but a properly
organized essay, written in full sentences. They need to state your thesis, provide evidence
or reasons to support your argument and write a strong conclusion. Use topic sentences to
clearly identify the main theme in each paragraph. They could use the guide below to
structure their essay:
Paragraph 1
Introduction
Restate the topic, indicate your position
Paragraph 2
Body
Main idea, supporting idea, examples
Paragraph 3
Body
Main idea, supporting idea, examples
Paragraph 4
conclusion
Summarize ideas, restate position

3.2. Problems of IELTS writing learners in Vietnam context
As far as I am aware, Vietnamese learners have faced with enormous challenges in
preparing for IELTS writing tests due to subjective and objective obstacles. First, that they

only study in limited English class in which writing at sentence levels focusing on forms is
applied by Vietnamese teachers makes them become less control of English and its
conventions of register and collocation. Second, they do not have chance to experience the
rhetorical conventions of English text  the structure, style, and organization  which is
totally different from those in Vietnamese. In some cases, if Vietnamese learners who are
put in specialized classes have to learn writing for tests, they have to try their best to pass or
gain good marks in the exams rather than enjoying learning writing. As a result, learners do
not pay attention to acquire more skills to improve their writings.
24



4. Approaches to teaching writing
4.1. The Product Approach
4.1.1. Definitions of the product approach
            

p.5). For example, in a typical product approach-oriented classroom, students are supplied
with a standard sample of text and they are expected to follow the standard to construct a
new piece of writing. Product Approach Model comprises of four stages (Steele, 2004):

* Stage one: Students study model texts and then the features of the genre are

the importance of paragraphing and the language used to make formal requests. If a student
reads a story, the focus may be on the techniques used to make the story interesting, and
students focus on where and how the writer employs these techniques.

* Stage two: This stage consists of controlled practice of the highlighted features,
usually in isolation. So if students are studying a formal letter, they may be asked to




* Stage three: This is the most important stage where the ideas are organized. Those
who favour this approach believe that the organization of ideas is more important than the
ideas themselves and as important as the control of language.

* Stage four: This is the end product of the learning process. Students choose from the
choice of comparable writing tasks. To show what they can be as fluent and competent
users of the language, students individually use the skills, structures and vocabulary they
have been taught to produce the product.